Wednesday, September 20, 2006

The Trim Bin #40

- Monday brought the joy of seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey on the big screen for the second time, this time at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. The Mahaiwe is a grand old movie palace with a balcony and a stage, and while the projection was a bit jittery, it was still the perfect environment to get caught up in Kubrick's Blue Danube-driven sci-fi tone poem. It's magic, I tells ya. The Mahaiwe's upcoming movie schedule includes Jaws, Cabaret, Blade Runner and Jurassic Park - you can check it out here.

- Great news: Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 and The Conformist will both be making their R1 DVD debuts on December 5. 1900 is an overwhelming experience that I can't wait to revisit and share with the missus; I've never seen The Conformist because of my reluctance to rent the dubbed VHS, so I can't wait to check it out for the first time. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is being released on DVD the same day, so if you need a break from the Disney marketing machine, Bertolucci's your man.

- CHUD ran a great interview with Brian De Palma last week. He's one of the smartest guys working in film today; notice how he seems to be completely anticipating the mixed response to The Black Dahlia and almost shrugging his shoulders about it. That sort of dogged dedication to one's vision is rare, and critics who claim that The Black Dahlia could have been directed by anyone just weren't paying attention. He's just the coolest. Here's an example:

"I try to tell stories with pictures. I usually have quite elaborate designs, and I spend a lot of time picking these architectural places precisely because they will take root in your subconscious. But the critics sort of dismiss it as nice camera work. (Laughs)"

- The second round of The Gauntlet starts tomorrow, complete with big pretty pictures. The first round has brought some very surprising results, both pleasant (hooray for Bringing Out the Dead!) and baffling (The Wicker Man over Blue Velvet? Aliens over The Shining? Really?). Of course, all of this is intensely subjective, which is a lot of the fun for me - I hope those of you who have been chiming in are as alternately happy, grumpy, and flummoxed as I am.

- This week also marked a personal triumph for me: the missus finally let me buy Krull. Usually, if I were to reach for a copy, I would be rewarded with a slap on the wrist. Turns out she was mistaking the goofy 80's fantasy movie for the just plain unwatchable 90's Kevin Sorbo vehicle Kull the Conqueror, so I can't blame her for the violent resistance. Anyway, Jess now knows of the awesome power of the glaive. And that's an important part of any marriage.

3 comments:

Doug
said...

Random thought, but I figured the Trim Bin would be the best place to mention it. If you know of any place around North Adams that plans on showing The Bridge and you are interested in seeing it, be sure to drop me a line. I know I talked to Sandra a little bit about it when I met with her.

The meeting went great, she seems incredibly interested in helping make things happen. Right now they are checking on prices on prints from a list I gave her. Top of the list being Jin-Roh. As for a time, we're looking at the first Sunday in December at 9pm.